Behind Closed Doors
by MysticPuffin
Summary: AU/Human names used. "He's my "cousin". I protect him in public. Behind closed doors, he keeps me from Them. He protects me. He's the only thing holding me together." Emil and Jia-long protect each other. That's just how they are. The story of two teens who didn't have much else besides each other.
1. Chapter 1

Emil

I used to think that I was alone. You know the saying "alone in an empty room", right? That's how I used to feel until he came along. Don't get me wrong, I love him, but not in that type of way. He protects me when I need it and supports me. So I guess he's my protector and supporter. More importantly, he's my cousin, in a way. People thought it was weird that we were always together. We didn't care, though. That's just how we are and we've been this way for a little over a year now. That's when They started to come around. I guess I'm lucky to have a cousin like him. He looks a lot tougher than me. I've always hated looking feminine, but no matter how hard I try, I can't look manly. Ever since I was a kid, people have mistaken me for a girl. No matter where I go, without fail it manages to happen. Except for him. When we met, he was the first one to realize that I wasn't a little girl. By the way, his name is Jia-Long. But don't call him that; he prefers Leon.

Jia-long

I've always known that I was different. As a kid, I started fighting. In the streets, at home, in school-it didn't matter. People called me a delinquent and wanted me to stay away from their children. I didn't mind; they were wimps anyway. My parents, on the other hand, cared. They said that I needed discipline. They had to enroll me in multiple martial arts classes to keep me off of the streets. The teachers didn't initially believe that I loved fighting as much as they were told. They learned quickly; as did I. Sometimes, I got kicked out of the classes. It never mattered since there are tons of martial arts out there to learn. I skipped class sometimes. Eventually, I probably would have stopped. Then came the day I saw him again. It surprised me since we hadn't seen each other since we were kids. And since that day, I've cut down on the amount of days I spend training. Honda sensei says that it's not good, but I don't care. He needs me more. Before you get any strange ideas, it's not like that. He's kind of my "cousin". He's my listener, my supporter, my soul mate. We aren't romantically involved though, we just need each other's presence. People say it's strange, but who cares? We don't need their approval for anything. Just so you know his name is Emil. It's funny that such an adorable boy has such a tough name. I think my literature teacher would call that irony.

* * *

A/N

Hey guys~! This is my first fanfic on the site, so yeah. Just some notes on how the story is set up:

*The story is set up so that each part is made of bits and pieces. I'll try to have multiple short ones or a long one and a short one, etc. The main point being, the story isn't one big thing, which may be a little confusing ^^;;

*The bits and pieces with names (i.e. Jia-long) are present time. Anything with a title is a flashback. The reason being there is a lot of background information through the years that I feel the need to add in. This is probably what makes the story confusing, so sorry. That's just the way I wanted to try writing.

Other things:

-Emil means rival, hence why it's a "tough name"

-The story is indeed HongIce{as in yaoi or technically boys love}, but the romance takes a while to bloom and it probably won't be a major part of the story.

-I will explain the cousins thing and a few other mysterious things in later chapters.

-The characters will probably be a bit ooc…

Whew, this note is so long...anyway, thanks for reading this and I hope you continue to read this story!


	2. Chapter 2

First Meeting pt. 1

_"But Lukas!" the 8-year-old boy whined. "I don't want to meet them!" His older brother sighed, crouching down to his height._

_ "Call me big brother, Emil," the stoic teen said, attempting to rub the scowl off of his younger siblings face. "And it's not like they'll hurt you, they're like family."_

_ "They're just your friends!" the scowl came back at full force. "They'll think I'm a girl." Lukas sighed; his brother had a point. With his large, violet doe eyes, smooth fair skin, and semi-long silver hair, the young boy was quite feminine. It didn't help that he was wearing a bright pink shirt that was two sizes too big thanks to a little incident in the taxi that morning. Emil was almost too adorable._

_ "We're going in there, okay? Just for a little while. I bet you won't even want to leave later." Then, Lukas decided to drag Emil into the get-together his friends had arranged._

_ The whole party was extremely organized. All of the teens and adults were in a different area than any younger kids that were dragged along. The food was set up in a different area all together. The teens and adults chatted while the kids played various games with each other. The largeness of the room made Emil cling to Lukas' pant leg nervously as they walked in together._

_ "Lukas!" A loud yell reverberated through the room as the tallest male Emil had ever seen bounded up to them. He had spikey hair and wore a small hat that matched his red and black sports jacket._

_ "Mathias," Lukas' left eye twitched lightly as he regarded the other teen. "I want you to meet my little brother. This is Emil."_

_ Upon his introduction, Emil was thrust forward and placed into the spotlight. Mathias grinned and knelt down to Emil's level. They stared at each other for a long moment before Emil realized that he was supposed to be introducing himself._

_ "Hello," his voice was so small that the hum of noise in the auditorium nearly drowned it out. "My name is Emil."_

_ "Wah, Norge, your brother is adorable! He's almost like a girl!" Mathias cooed, scooping the smaller boy up. Emil flinched in his arms. "I'm Mathias; you can call me big brother if you want!"_

_ "Let him go, you idiot," Lukas took Emil out of the other teens arms and put him back on the ground. "And don't call me 'Norge'. I'm taking him to the kids' area." And with that, Lukas dragged Emil away from the tall male._

_ The part of the room with the kids was pure chaos. There was no supervision; the various guardians of the children weren't even looking in that direction. There were kids wrestling, playing with dolls, and even holding tea parties. Nothing scared Emil more. His brother had attempted to introduce him to several of the wild children, including one who claimed to be a hero, but Emil shied away from the all. Eventually, the older boy gave up and left him in the lion's den._

_ Looking around, Emil resumed his scowling. The children around him were ignoring him and roughhousing again. Not that he minded; it was just a dangerous situation. Seeing a boy around his age sitting in a corner with a book, Emil decided to join him. As he approached, the boy looked up and Emil flinched. He had chocolate locks and obsidian eyes, along with thick eyebrows. None of that particularly bothered Emil, but the boy's expression was even blanker than Lukas'. At least with Lukas, Emil could see small signs that he had emotions. This boy almost seemed to look right through Emil, showing absolutely no indication of what he was thinking. Taking a deep breath, Emil sat down next to the boy with a determined face; he would not be scared away from the only safe zone in the room by a simple look._

_ "Hi," Emil frowned a bit as his voice faltered. "I'm Emil."_

_ "Jia-Long," his voice was flat. Emil looked at his lap, pondering whether or not he should say something else. Jia-Long beat him to it._

_ "Do you like, want to read with me? It's not too bad a book, I guess." Emil stared at him, a little surprised. He wasn't the best reader, but he saw what he thought was a hopeful glint in the other boys' eyes._

_ "Sure, I'd like that."_

Jia-Long

I hate the rain. I hate high school. I hate being in school while it rains. I hate the fact that Yao makes me go to this stupid, terrible-

"What are you doing?" I looked up from my notebook and stopped stabbing at it with my pencil. Emil was giving me a slightly disapproving look.

"You know how I like feel about rain," I responded, just managing not to smirk as the teacher shot us a dirty look for talking. "On top of that, I'm stressed about the next fight, I suppose."

Emil shot me a slightly sympathetic look, which I promptly ignored. It's not like he signed me up or anything; my sensei did that. Looking up at the clock, I closed my notebook. Emil did the same, grabbing his bag as the bell rang. Usually, I loved the sound of that stupid bell. It was like a chime on acid. Today, it made me a little upset. I didn't want to have to walk in the rain, especially since I had to leave Emil halfway. He doesn't like going to my fights, so he usually goes home. Standing, I stretched and grabbed my jacket.

"If we hurry, I can like, walk you all the way home and run to the dojo, I suppose," I said, pulling the red jacket on. Emil shook his head.

"I'll be fine," he shot me a small smile. "I'm actually going to your house, which is a little closer. Lady Red wants to have another photo shoot."

Jia-Long almost smiled at their little code name for Yao, but resisted. It had been an ongoing joke for years.

"Why do you like, let him dress you up and take pictures? You hate it," Emil was silent for a long moment as we exited the classroom with our bags.

"It makes him happy," he said. I shrugged as we weaved our way through the crowded hallway. Two years ago, the stares, whispers, and not-so-accidental bumps would have bothered me a lot more than they did now.

"Whatever, Emil," I mumbled.

Emil

"Promise that you'll like, be careful," Now that we were alone, Jia-Long looked uncharacteristically gentle.

"I'll be fine, mother," I said, rolling my eyes. "I'm almost there anyway."

Nodding, the young martial artist turned and started to walk back towards the dojo he trained in. Dropping the small smile I had, I resumed walking, pulling my hood higher over my head. The rain had let up a bit, so it wasn't too bad. It was warm rain, not the typical ice cold rain that usually fell.

Turning the corner onto Jia-Long's street, I stopped abruptly. My blood ran cold as I stared at the small group of teens standing a few feet away from me. It was Them. Slowly, I began to back away, hoping they wouldn't spot me. Luck just wasn't on my side.

"Oh, look!" one of the girls' shrill voices rang out. "It's little Emil."

Before I could run, the surrounded me. Their leader stepped forward, his eyes glinting crudely.

"So," he smirked, looking down at me. "Where's your little bodyguard?"

"Just leave me alone!" I tried to sound angry, but my voice wavered. He laughed and grabbed me by the front of my jacket.

"Now, now Emy," the mocking tone of his voice was dangerous. "We both know how this game is played, don't we?"

* * *

A/N

Hey guys! This will be one of my faster updates since I already had this written down. I'll try my best to keep them from being too far apart.

Lukas-Norway

Mathias-Denmark

Yao-China

Notes:

*Lukas pretty much raised Emil since their parents are always extremely busy. I know this chapter didn't really explain too much of the background or the relationships of the characters, but I will get to that. I just ask you to please be patient

*The Lady Red joke will definitely have its own segment

*The boys are presently around 17

One last thing~! While I was writing, I was thinking about who I could make the leader of Them (oh that grammar) and I got a little stuck. Emil doesn't really have any enemies in the show, so if you guys have a suggestion, feel free to tell me about it! ^^ Thanks for reading~


	3. Chapter 3

Jia-Long

"What do you mean cancelled?" I asked in my usual bland tone. I had a hard time keeping the anger off of my face; how dare that coward forfeit?! Sensei didn't even flinch.

"Your opponent cannot make it. His mother is in the hospital," I suddenly felt slightly guilty for thinking he was a wimp. The guilt didn't make my anger go away, though.

"I see, I suppose," I sighed. "Well, is there anything I should do before head home?"

Sensei seemed to ponder this.

"No, not today. I think you should hurry home. I saw a group of trouble-makers pass by earlier and I would hate for you to get into a conflict with them."

I was never so happier about Honda sensei's slightly overprotective nature towards his students. Grabbing my bag, I rushed out of the door of the dojo, not even bothering to grab my jacket from my cubby.

I shoved my way through a group of people at the entrance, running in the direction of my house. My clothes were getting soaked; the closer I got, the heavier the rain seemed to fall. Turning onto my street, I saw a figure huddled against the side of the candy store. Emil. Near the end of the street, a group of teens laughed, pushing each other around as they walked. I glared at their backs before running over to Emil, kneeling down to check on him.

"Emil, are you alright?" he lifted his head and my blood immediately caught fire. There were several bruises on his face.

"I'll be fine," he tried to smile, but grimaced.

"I'm going to kill them," I pulled Emil into a hug, relieved that he wasn't hurt too badly. "I thought I told you to be careful!"

We sat in the rain for what seemed like hours, talking about what had happened. When he noticed that I didn't have my jacket, Emil tried to offer me his. I refused, rolling my eyes several times as I helped him to my house. It didn't matter if I caught a cold, as long as he was okay.

_In Sickness_

_Jia-Long Leon Wang was not really fit for the kitchen. He wasn't gentle enough, not careful enough. Yao stood in the kitchen entrance watching his adopted son in utter confusion. Adjusting his red sleeping gown, he yawned._

"_What are you doing down here, aru? It's two in the morning," Yao attempted to chastise him, but Jia-Long wasn't paying much attention._

"_Baking soda," he mumbled. "That's a good substitute for salt, I suppose."_

_Rushing forward, now completely awake, Yao grabbed his hand tightly._

"_What in the world are you doing Jia-Long, aru? His eyes were slightly fearful. He never really thought that his son would be making poison! Jia-Long's eyes narrowed slightly._

"_Leon," he stressed, rolling his eyes. "And I'm making soup, obviously."_

_Eyeing the pot warily, Yao stepped forward._

"_Let me help, aru, before you kill someone."_

* * *

_Jia-Long stood in front of Emil's bedroom door anxiously. Aunt Lukas had said that Emil couldn't even look at food the day before, but Jia-Long wanted to try anyway. He had actually attempted to cook and it would NOT be a wasted effort. Opening the door partially, he stuck his head inside._

"_Emil," he called softly. Jia-Long almost closed the door when he didn't get an answer. Then, he happened to glance at the mirror by the door. On the other side of the room, Emil was sitting up in his bed playing a handheld game with earplugs. Pushing the door completely open, Jia-Long stepped in to stare at him._

"_Jia-Long!" Emil dropped the game and practically tore out his earplugs. "What are you doing here?"_

_If it weren't for the clear sickness in his voice, Emil would've been slapped upside the head. Walking over, Jia-Long held out the soup._

"_I made you soup, stupid," he looked away to avoid seeing Emil's face. "Now eat."_

_Looking up at him in awe, Emil took the soup gingerly. He opened the top of the container and grimaced. It looked putrid._

"_Thanks," he said after a while. "It, erm, smells good."_

"_I know how it looks, but Yao, like, saved it, I suppose." Jia-Long grumbled. "It tastes a lot better than you think, trust me."_

_Emil smiled lightly, picking up the spoon that came with the container. If Jia-Long had actually attempted to cook, he wouldn't reject it._

"_I sure hope so, I'm starving!" Jia-Long lightly punched him on the head._

"_Just, like eat already! You worried me by getting so sick."_

Emil

Jia-Long was shivering. He was probably going to catch a cold. He deserved it for being so stupid.

"You should've taken my jacket," I bit my lip lightly as he narrowed his eyes at me.

"You need it more," the emphasis he placed on each word made it clear that he was trying to keep his teeth from chattering. I decided not to say anything else; it wouldn't help much.

I sighed. Lukas was probably worried to death. I know that I should've called him as soon as I got to Jia-Long's house, but I honestly didn't have the time until now. Lady Red only absolutely freaked out. He just about attacked us with towels, fresh clothes to change into, blankets and tea. Jia-Long was upset about being fussed over, but he decided to let Yao be motherly for once. Whether it was out of the kindness of his heart or not, I didn't know. If I had to guess, he just didn't feel like fighting it today.

Sitting in Jia-Long's room wrapped in a blanket, I couldn't help but wonder why he was with me. I wasn't ungrateful, but his fights usually last a lot longer than five minutes. I looked over to ask about it, only to see him leaning on the wall sleeping. I smiled slightly; watching as his eyebrows rhythmically rose and fell to his breathing pattern. It was always amusing to watch, especially since Jia-Long refused to believe that it happened. As I took a small sip of my tea, there was a small knock at the door. I looked over to see Yao, who had a slightly worried look on his face.

"Emil, aru," his voice was soft, but firm. "I've been around for a long time, and I'm not stupid. This isn't the first time you've come over with bruises and I know that you didn't fall to get them. Tell me what happened, aru."

The pleading look in his eyes was almost too much. I didn't want to tell him because I thought that he would make a huge deal out of it and tell Lukas. Unfortunately, if the look on his face was anything to go by, I wasn't being given a choice. I sighed.

"There's a group of kids," I clenched my fist just thinking about Them. "I'm not quite sure why, but they hate me and occasionally, I get into fights with them. It's nothing to worry about, Yao."

He studied me for a long moment, looking disturbingly similar to Jia-Long. Sometimes I wonder if they're actually family members.

"Emil, you're such a stupid child, aru," They're definitely related by blood. "People worry about you and all you do is push them away. Accepting help doesn't make you any less of a man, aru."

I stared into my cup, wondering what I could say. Yao really wasn't stupid; he knew everything that I didn't say, just because I didn't say it. I could only hope to be as wise as him one day. I looked up, prepared to thank him at the very least, only to see that he was gone. I could only assume that he'd migrated to the kitchen, since it would be dinnertime soon. My cell phone sudden emitted a shrill yell and I sighed, picking it up.

"Where are you?" I rolled my eyes.

"Hello to you too, Lukas."

"I'm serious, Emil. I've been waiting for you to call for an hour now." Even though his voice didn't show it, I could tell he was worried about me. He didn't even tell me to call him big brother.

"I'm sorry; Yao kept me a little busy." It wasn't really a lie, but Lukas scoffed lightly.

"Of course he did," there was no malice in his voice, but I could tell he was a little irritated. "Is Arthur there with you, he wasn't at the meeting today."

It took everything in me to stop myself from rolling my eyes again. Arthur and Lukas work in a small company together and they've known each other since they were really young. Since they grew up together, they considered each other family, though if you saw them together you wouldn't think so at all. Every time they got together, they acted as if they barely knew each other, but that somehow made them closer. Their weird relationship is how Jia-Long was dubbed my cousin and any time I was here without Arthur being present, Lukas felt the need to baby me.

"No, Lukas, he's not here. Why don't you call him?"

"I was just about to do so," he replied, not at all phased by Arthur's not being here. "Just remember to do your homework and be home before it gets too late. And try not to inherit Leon's eyebrows."

The line went dead and I flipped my phone closed. Lukas was probably the weirdest brother in the existence of brothers. Glancing at the time, I still had time to wait before we were called down for dinner. Since we were both on the bed, there wasn't much too for me to lie down. Leaning on Jia-Long, my eyelids suddenly felt heavy and I drifted off to sleep.

* * *

A/N

Hey guys~. It's spring, but it's still snowing where I live . I hope it stops soon; I really want the flowers to start blooming.

Notes:

*Arthur- England

*Finally a little background on the "cousin" thing. I'll expand on that later.

*Jia-Long calls Lukas his Aunt. It's similar to how Yao is Lady Red.

I guess that's it! If you guys have any questions or anything, feel free to ask~


	4. Chapter 4

Emil

There are times when I wonder why I bother with Jia-Long. He could be the most annoying person ever when he wanted to. And his pranks are terrifying. The absolute worst thing about him is the way he becomes such a constant in your life that you're always missing something important when he's not in your presence. I scowled down at my notebook, which was now full of scribbles. I blame Jia-Long for getting sick. If he hadn't stayed home from school today, I would be able to focus.

I sighed, quickly scrawling the meaningless notes from the board into my notebook around the scribbles. I would correct it later. I'm sure the teacher won't mind. Wait, what class is this? My scatterbrained thoughts were interrupted by a collective gasp sounding around the room. Looking up, I saw the cause of their confusion. I was suddenly angry and ecstatic at the same time. Standing in the doorway was Jia-Long. Aside from the faint flushing of his cheeks, he looked perfectly fine. I couldn't help but give him a small frown as he handed the teacher his pass and walked over to sit next to me. The teacher, looking completely unfazed by this, went on with the lesson, which was apparently about writing good research papers.

"Did you, like, miss me?" My frown instantly turned into a full on glare as I felt my cheeks heat up ever so slightly.

"Why are you even here?" I hissed. "You have a cold; you should be resting."

"School is important, I suppose." The way he shrugged made me unreasonably angry. Just when I was about to yell at him for being stupid, the bell rang. Sighing, I packed my notebook into my bag and stood up. It was Friday, which meant that we had gym class today. Jia-Long slowly rose out of his seat and grimaced.

"I don't think that I'm going to, like, participate in gym today." I rolled my eyes lightly.

"Fine, sit out for today. It's not as if it'll affect your grade."

* * *

I shifted uncomfortably as I stood in a line with my classmates. Coach Jones had told us to split into two teams and choose a game. Apparently, he had a meeting to go to and his brother, who was also the supposed assistant coach, would be our teacher today. Then, he ran out of the gym with a burst of energy that made Olympic athletes jealous. Seriously, why was he a gym teacher? He probably could be on any sports team he wanted to be on. Not liking the lack of supervision, I looked around for our substitute. Seeing no one except for Jia-Long, I sighed and resumed my waiting. Both team captains seemed to be steering clear of me, which wasn't a surprise.

After what seemed like forever, two teams of twelve were standing in front of me, debating on what game to play. Blinking, I looked to my left and right. I was the only person not on a team.

"E-Excuse me," A very faint voice right next to me almost made me jump. Looking to my left, I saw someone who couldn't have been there a second ago.

"Hi," I squinted at him cautiously. He looked vaguely familiar. "Are you new here?"

"No, I'm Coach Williams," He seemed a little hurt that I didn't know him. "I've been coaching here for the last five years with Alfred."

So that's why he seemed familiar. He's Coach Jones' twin. I'd never seen him until today, though.

"Right," I glanced at my class. "So, are you going to step in and tell everyone that you're here?"

"Well," Coach Williams looked a little embarrassed. "I've actually been trying to get their attention for the past five minutes. You're the first one to notice me besides Leon."

I glance over to my cousin, who was staring at the other students from the sidelines. After a moment, he sat down, seemingly about to take a nap. I rolled my eyes; he should have just gone to the nurse. Looking over, I saw that my classmates had decided on volleyball and were setting up the net and getting the ball.

"Have you tried blowing the whistle?" I looked over to Coach Williams, only to discover that he was gone. Looking around, I saw him on the other side of the gym, trying to get someone else's attention. Sighing lightly, I decided to go and join Jia-Long on the sidelines.

"Emil!" I paused, slightly confused as Jett Wilson jogged over to me. He was the star of the basketball team, practically an idol. Why he wanted anything to do with me, I didn't know.

"Hey there," he said, draping an arm over my shoulder. "So, I noticed that you aren't on a team, which isn't cool at all, mate. I have the perfect job for you though!"

"What kind of job?" I was extremely suspicious as he dragged me over to the center of the gym, right next to the net.

"You're not really athletic, but I'm sure it'll be fine. They said that your hair is the perfect color."

I frowned deeply at this. What could my hair possibly have to do with anything?

"Perfect for what?" Jett ignored my question and began to back away, looking slightly apologetic.

THWACK! I stumbled slightly as the volleyball hit me square in the face. Every inch of my face began to sting with pain.

"Practice," I vaguely heard one of the girls in my class laugh.

_The Lady in Red_

"_Lukas!" Emil pouted as his older brother ignored him yet again. This had been going on for an hour now and the 8-year-old was getting annoyed. If Lukas kept this up, the house wouldn't be prepared when their dinner guests arrived. Of course, Emil had no idea who was coming over. Lukas had told him it was a surprise. Emil walked around the couch and stood directly in front on Lukas, who was pretending to read the newspaper. Emil narrowed his eyes at his brother; it was upside down._

"_Anything interesting, Brother?" Lukas looked up from the newspaper with a small twitch of his lips. He thought he was winning._

"_Many of today's stories are interesting, Emil,"_

"_Really?" Emil smiled up at Lukas. "I don't see how you would know that since _yesterday's _newspaper is upside down."_

_Lukas didn't miss a beat._

"_That's because you're only eight and you don't know magic." It was the dumbest excuse Emil had ever heard. Just before he could call Lukas out, the doorbell rang. The brothers stared at each other. Had they really wasted the entire day like this? Apparently so. They were just lucky that Lukas had remembered to cook dinner while ignoring Emil._

"_Just a moment," Lukas called out to the door before standing and walking into the main entrance of their house. Emil followed on his brothers' heels, curious to see who they would be eating with. As the door was opened, Emil was first greeted by a familiar pair of dull, dark eyes. He smiled at Jia-Long before looking past him to see Arthur and a strange woman. Having met Arthur before, Emil gave him a small smile and greeting before he looked curiously at the woman next to him._

"_Hello everyone," Lukas greeted their guests and opened the door wider to allow them to enter the house. Emil immediately grabbed Jia-long and pulled him into the living room while the adults took their time._

"_Emil, I have to, like, remove my shoes," the usual dull tone of Jia-Long's voice made Emil slightly unhappy. Wasn't Jia-Long happy to see him? Letting go of his friend's hand, Emil pouted slightly._

"_Alright, but hurry!" As Jia-Long disappeared into the main entrance, the strange woman entered the living room. Well, she wasn't strange, but she was a stranger to Emil. She was actually quite pretty. She had long brown hair that was a bit darker than Jia-Long's and pretty, dark eyes. She wasn't as tall as Arthur and she didn't wear any makeup. In Emil's opinion, she didn't need any. She wore a red, comfortable looking loose sweatshirt with sleeves that were much too long and dark pants that had cute red designs on them. She smiled down at him and he gave her a shy wave in return._

"_Are you Jia-Long's mommy?" Emil asked just as the other three people wandered into the living room. Arthur snickered and even Jia-Long seemed amused by this question. Emil frowned, confused as to why it was funny._

"_I told you this outfit was girly, aru!" she yelled at Arthur. "Even this adorable little girl mistook me for a girl!"_

"_Yao, calm down," Lukas was smiling a bit as well._

"_I'm not a girl!" Emil glared at Yao. The two feminine males seemed to stare each other down for ages. After a while, Jia-Long stepped between them with a bored look on his face._

"_What's, like, for dinner?"_

* * *

_The five people at the dinner table chatted idly as they ate. Since he didn't know what they would be most comfortable eating, Lukas had made meatballs and potato dumplings. The earlier misunderstanding between Yao and Emil had been solved with no hard feelings. Well, mostly no hard feelings._

"_Wow," Arthur smiled at his friend. "I had no idea that your cooking had improved this much, Lukas."_

"_How is your cooking Arthur?" Lukas shot him a bland look. "Still burning cold cereal?"_

_Everyone else at the table chuckled as the two old friends bantered about each other's cooking._

"_So, if you aren't Jia-Long's mommy, who are you?" Emil had been staring curiously at Yao for a while. Jia-Long snorted._

"_He's my butler, Madame Red," The two children shared a chuckle as Yao glared at Jia-Long._

"_I am not a Madame, aru!" Emil snickered lightly._

"_He's right. He's more of a lady! A Lady in red," The two small children shared a grin._

"_Lady Red!" The exclaimed in unison. Everyone around the table shared a smile at the two young boys._

"_And you can be my Aunt Lukas," Jia-Long pointed at Lukas with a slightly amused look._

_Lukas on the other hand, was not amused._

* * *

A/N

Hey there~

And the Lady Red joke is revealed! Heh, sorry if it's not as great as you thought. I wasn't going to stop here, but I got writer's block...so yeah .

This chapter is dedicated to** Silvinukas** for being awesome and all. Thank you for anyone else who reads this as well!

Notes:

*Coach Jones: America. I know I introduce him as a kid in the second chapter (the hero), but he wasn't as young as Emil. He's a few years older and because of his athleticism they let him be a coach. In all reality, i'm not sure how long you have to go to school to be a gym teacher, but let's pretend it's not that long.

*Coach Williams: Canada. Our lovely and shy assistant coach.

*Jett Wison: Australia. I didnt know who to place in this role, but basketball is getting really popular in Australia apparently...also, he's not a full on bully. He really just doesn't want the others to outcast him. There are people like this in real life, who hang with the bullies but dont really approve, so..yeah.

Thanks again for reading this chapter~


	5. Chapter 5

Jia-Long

I was on my feet before my eyes were even fully opened. As soon as I'd heard the tell-tale sound of a volleyball smacking against flesh, I knew something was wrong. It was far too quiet for a game to be going on. I quickly scanned the gym, easily locating the ring of students laughing at someone. Emil.

"Emil!" I narrowed my eyes into a slight glare as I sprinted over to him. The crowd quickly moved out of my way as I approached. Emil stood in the center of the crowd, a hand over his face. He tried not to show it, but I didn't need to see his expression to know he was in pain. His face was bright red; not at all the slightly adorable dark red that coats his cheeks when he's embarrassed…Wait, did I just refer to him as adorable? I shook my head slightly to clear my mind; there were more important matters on hand. I stepped protectively closer to Emil and turned my glare on the now huddled class. I know about my reputation, everyone does, so it doesn't surprise me when several of them back up.

"So," my voice was deadly calm as it echoed through the gym. "Who threw the ball?"

Surprisingly, Jett Wilson stepped forward with an apprehensive look on his face.

"Jia-Long," he flinched when I intensified my glare. "I mean Leon. Look, we weren't really trying to cause a problem."

If he had more to say, it was lost in his yelp of surprise as I, quick as a snake, lashed out to grab his good arm. The arm he used to shoot baskets was now locked in my grip and being twisted. To his credit, he didn't scream. As a matter of fact, he only whimpered once or twice.

I was suddenly aware of Coach Williams attempting to yell at me to stop. I say attempting because his voice wasn't really easy to hear over the protest of my classmates. A controlled glare kept them at a distance, but they weren't very happy about what I was doing. One brave girl stepped forward a few inches.

"You can't do that, he needs his arm to play!" Just as I was about to tell her off, I felt a light tapping on my back. I lessened my grip on Jett and turned to see Emil frowning at me.

"Let his arm go," he didn't even have to yell. As if bound to his command, my hands simply dropped to my sides, allowing Jett to scramble away nursing his arm.

"Seriously? He hit you," Emil shook his head, gripping my shoulder as if he was afraid that I'd go and retrieve Jett's arm.

"Someone else threw the ball, so there's no need to take it out on him. You know what the principal said."

I did know what the principal said. I was allowed to have every single class with Emil as long as I didn't fight in school. I fight; I lose any privileges they've given me so far. That, along with any other punishments they have to give me for the fight.

"Well, who, like, threw the ball?" The principal said nothing against terrifying my peers. I'll make sure they never even _look_ at Emil again.

"It doesn't matter," he said quietly. Emil wouldn't meet my eyes, which only added fuel to the fire. If I hadn't learned restraint, I would probably be beating my classmates senseless. Knowing that I wouldn't get a real answer from Emil, I slipped back into my emotionless mask. It was easier to pretend not to care.

"You're right, it doesn't matter, I suppose," I only caught a glimpse of the slightly hurt look on Emil's face before I turned to walk away.

"Um, Leon?" It was Coach Williams. "I think I have to report this to the office."

By his quiet tone, I can tell that he doesn't want to, but he follows the rules a lot more closely than his brother. The only time Coach Williams actually lets loose a bit is hockey season. I'm almost upset about the whole situation being reported until I realize that this means the other kids involved will have to be mentioned as well. Especially whoever threw the ball. I gave Coach a small smirk of thanks, knowing that this conclusion was probably the only reason he addressed me personally. I quickly replaced my mask of emotion and turned again to walk towards the sidelines.

"Wait," It's Coach again. "Can you take these two to the infirmary, please? I have to sort out the class."

Coach Williams is asking me, Jia-Long Leon Wang, to take two of my classmates to the nurse? It's strange, but he probably suspects that I have a cold from our earlier discussion. I nod and begin walking towards the door, only stopping to look back at my new charges once. It's Emil, whose nose has a small drop of blood making its way towards his lip, and Jett, who is still cradling his arm. This is going to be a long trip to the office.

* * *

Emil

My face hurts. Jia-Long was still giving me the silent and emotionless treatment, which I haven't received in a while. That's probably why it hurts so much. It almost hurts as much as my face.

As soon as we reached the infirmary, the main nurse began to work on Jett. He was an important person, so of course he got special treatment. At least his arm wasn't fractured. Yet. A few more minutes in that hold and Jia-Long would've ruined Jett's basketball season this year. I'm not sure why, but I'm glad that he's okay.

The nurse, a sweet woman named Irina Braginskaya, examined me after she finishes looking at Jett. She's a very caring woman, but I don't think she chose her career carefully. A woman of her..stature should know better than to work with high school age boys. I say that because is very well endowed in her upper torso. Not to mention the fact that she can't stand seeing others injured. She almost started to cry when she told me that she couldn't do much for me. I calmed her down as quickly as possible; a weeping nurse is not a helpful nurse. Anyway, she gave me an icepack and some weird, but nice smelling cream to rub on the parts of my face that still hurt. Then she left to call Lukas and whoever Jett's guardian is to let them know what happened.

"Are you going to stare at me forever, or will you actually put the cream on your face?" Though there was no hostility in his voice, I flinched when Jia-Long spoke. He sat in the chair next to the small bench I was sitting on, staring at the wall across the room. I blushed slightly when I realized that I really was staring and I quickly looked away.

"I wasn't staring at you," I mumbled, taking a bit of the cream and rubbing it on my sore cheek. It began working almost immediately, instantly cooling my skin. It was too much to resist letting out a soft, pleased sigh. I really need to ask Miss Irina the name of this stuff. I continued rubbing the cream into my skin, occasionally adding a bit more to my fingers. There wasn't much I could do about my nose; it had stopped bleeding and it wasn't broken, so I just had to deal with the pain until the icepack helped me sooth it. After I was sure that I'd rubbed the cream into every aching part of my face, I brought the icepack to my face and leaned back against the bench.

"Feeling better?" I lifted my head, both surprised and disappointed at who was speaking. It was Jett, whose arm was in a makeshift sling. I really wished it was Jia-long instead, but he was still acting as if he didn't care.

"Well, my face doesn't hurt as much now," I realize that my voice sounds funny because of the icepack pressed to my nose. I lowered it and watched as Jett's smile faded into a small frown.

"Hey, about that," his eyes darted worriedly toward Jia-Long for a few seconds before he continues. "I'm really sorry. I know it probably doesn't change anything, but they told me that they wouldn't really hurt you. They said they only wanted to throw the balls at you, maybe hit you once or twice, but not hurt you."

I stared at him for what I knew was probably a long time. He 'didn't know'? Was I honestly supposed to believe that they'd lied to him? Did I believe that they'd lied to him? I'm not sure I can trust him. He seems to notice my apprehension, because he gives me a small, awkward smile.

"I know it's hard to believe and you don't have to accept my apology right now. I just hope that we can be friends in the future."

On that note, he's gone, back to his side of the infirmary. I'm not sure how I feel about him wanting to be my 'friend'. It might just be me being paranoid, but no one at this school wants to be my friend. No one besides Jia-Long. Maybe a few others who are afraid to approach us, but it's unlikely. Jia-Long suddenly stands up, looking at the apple clock hanging above Miss Irina's desk.

"It's almost time for our next class, I guess," And right on cue, the bell that signaled the change of classes rang. We had math next, but I really didn't feel like going.

"Can we go to our place instead?" I expected him to say no and leave me to go to class alone, but he nodded.

* * *

_The Only Place for Us_

_ "Jia-Long, I'm almost positive that this is illegal," Emil complained as he followed his childhood friend up the hidden staircase near the cafeteria. It was only the second week of their second year in high school and they were already going to get expelled. Emil was certain that there was a reason the stairs weren't easy to spot._

_ "Just, like, trust me," Jia-Long rolled his eyes lightly as he climbed the staircase. When Emil had become such a whiner, he had no idea. "Have I ever steered you wrong before?"_

_ "Only every single time you convinced me to join in your pranks when we were kids."_

_ "Besides that."_

_ "When you told me that shampoo tasted good on ice cream and that if I ate a lot of it, I would get super powers." Well, Jia-Long couldn't argue with that. He did let out a small chuckle, only slightly more than an exhalation of air, though. Emil was quite gullible as a child._

_ "Well, you gained two very important powers, I suppose. Knowledge and caution." Jia-Long chuckled again as Emil swatted the back of his head. He had to admit, after all of these years, it was nice to have his friend back. They'd reached the top of the staircase by now and stood in front of a padlocked door._

_ "I guess this means we're going home now?" Emil was hopeful; the last thing he wanted was to be caught trespassing in the school after hours. One look at his friend told him that he would have no such luck. Instead of answering, Jia-Long held out a hand._

_ "Hand one over," he said calmly. Emil could have pretended that he had no idea what Jia-Long meant, but that would only lead to the taller male ruffling through his hair._

_ "How did you even know?" Emil grumbled as he removed one of his strategically placed white bobby pins from his hair._

_ "Give me some credit, I know you didn't get a haircut last week," Jia-Long quickly snatched up the object and began probing the lock expertly. Emil could only hope that this skill was picked up for practical reasons and not for some form of crime._

_ "Well, I thought it looked pretty convincing. And so did Lukas," Emil huffed lightly. It appeared that he had failed in his attempt to make his hair look shorter than it really was._

_ "It was convincing," the lock slid open in a matter of seconds. "I just know you better than that; you hate when your hair is too short."_

_ Before Emil could reply, Jia-Long pushed the door open to reveal a gravely blacktop._

_ "So much for, like, a beautiful rooftop garden," the brunette muttered in slight disappointment. Emil laughed at his friend's reaction._

_ "Is that what you thought was up here? We aren't in an anime, you know!" Jia-Long glares lightly at Emil, glad that he isn't blushing. Jia-Long isn't capable of blushing. At least, not in his mind._

_ "Be quiet, you probably thought there was some, like, secret assassin training agency headquarters up here," And Emil blushes, because that's almost exactly what he was thinking._

_ "Well, we were both wrong. So it doesn't matter." Emil walked out into the open air. The roof was lined with a tall fence and almost completely bare. There were a few benches and scattered potted baby trees, but that was it. Jia-Long stepped out as well and took in the view. Neither of them spoke for a few minutes._

_ "It's so peaceful up here," Emil muttered, mostly to himself. Jia-Long nodded and closed the door behind him._

_ "It's perfect," he said in a tone of finality._

_ "Perfect for what?"_

_ "For us to escape," Emil almost didn't hear Jia-Long's soft whisper. He didn't have to ask what the other meant, though. The other kids in this school had a special distaste for Jia-Long. Apparently, last year there had been a lot of issues. _

_ The two of them had just reunited a few weeks ago, but before that Emil and Jia-Long were at different schools. Lukas had insisted that Emil attend a school that with high testing students and boring curriculums. Those schools were usually deemed 'safer' since they had a lower amount of students fighting. Of course, they weren't safer at all, but that's not the point. Emil, with the help of Arthur, had convinced Lukas to let him switch schools. And now, here they were, together in a school that was filled with people who didn't like Jia-Long. By association, they didn't like Emil either. But they could deal with that, as long as they had each other to depend on._

_ "So, I guess this is our special place now?" Jia-Long nodded and went to sit on the bench closest to the door. Emil sat as well, after Jia-Long had patted the space next to him. Jia-Long almost immediately placed an arm around Emil and started to comb through his hair._

_ "What are you doing?" Emil started to struggle, but the arm was clearly meant to hold him in place, which it did effortlessly. It took Jia-Long a while to answer. Emil could feel all of the bobby pins falling out of his hair. When he stopped messing with Emil's hair, Jia-Long released him and spoke._

_ "You don't need short hair to look manly," the brunette looked off into the distance and Emil swore he could see the faintest shade of pink dusting Jia-Long's lightly tanned cheeks. That's impossible though, since Jia-Long doesn't blush. "You look good when you aren't trying to be manly, I suppose."_

_ And now it's Emil's turn to blush because he realizes that his childhood friend is actually complementing his looks. Jia-Long had the decency, or embarrassment, to stare straight ahead, not even glancing back to see Emil's blushing face. After a long, slightly uncomfortable silence, Jia-Long turns to face Emil._

_ "On the other hand, you're, like, scrawny, so maybe you do need to try a little." Emil scowled at the brunette. So much for getting a compliment._

* * *

A/N

Hey guys~ Guess who doesn't have writer's block anymore! I made this chapter a bit longer than my usual ones to make up for the ending of the last one. I actually really like this chapter.

Notes:

*Irina Braginskaya- Ukraine

I think that's all. If there's someone/something that I should have mentioned and I didn't, just let me know and I'll fix it. Ciao~


	6. Chapter 6

Jia-Long

It was very rare for Emil to want to skip class. He's usually the one who needs convincing. Even though I was still slightly upset over the way he protected whoever hurt him, I couldn't just refuse to go with him. So I lead him through the halls, making sure that anyone who bumped me got bumped back twice as hard. I was in no mood to be nice to these people. One of them hurt Emil, and got away with it. I'm not sure why, but it makes me angry to think that I couldn't protect Emil from our classmates. It's almost as if my training mean nothing.

We lingered silently in the slightly concealed corridor that leads to the rooftop. It seemed to take forever for the bell to ring and the few late students to clear the halls. I'm no longer sure why, but we've always waited for it to be quiet before we went up to our place. Maybe it was just caution of our surroundings. Not that it matters. As soon as the last echo of a classroom door closing faded away, Emil turned to me. He looked apologetic, so I hesitated to walk up the stairs.

"Yes?" My voice came out a bit colder than I'd wanted it to. After an eternity of staring at me strangely, Emil sighed rather heavily.

"I didn't see," he mumbled, causing me to frown.

"What are you talking about, Emil?"

"I didn't see who threw the ball," his voice was still relatively low, as if he was afraid someone would throw another ball if he spoke too loudly. "I wasn't paying much attention."

The sudden perturbation twisting in my gut all but broke my stoic mask. There was no explaining the feeling; it simply implanted itself without my permission. I've always had problems expressing myself, so I lock my feelings up inside of me. It's always been easier that way. The only downside is that I can never sort out my own feelings. I was vaguely aware of my hand reaching out to Emil, but it was as if I wasn't in control of my own body. Only after my arm had snaked around him and pulled him into an awkward hug did my vocal chords decide to work again.

"I..I was so worried, Emil," Even those words seemed to lack my permission to be said. I had no idea where they came from; the only thing I knew was that they seemed to soothe the organs twisting in my gut. After a long silence, Emil returned the hug and I could feel him smiling against my shoulder.

"Jia-Long," he paused. "You haven't expressed yourself like that in a while. It worries me that you only do this every once in a while."

"It's nothing to worry about,'' he shook his head and moved back to look at me.

"You've always said that I worry too much about nothing," Emil frowned slightly before he turned and walked up the stairs and away from me.

_His Fighting style_

_ "Stop fidgeting, Emil," The slightly scolding tone of Jia-Long's voice did absolutely nothing to calm the violet-eyed teen's nerves. He had never been one for sporting events, so his nervousness was only to be expected. That, combined with his dislike of large crowds, made for a very timid Emil. A timid, fidgety Emil. And Jia-Long couldn't stand it when people fidgeted._

_ "It's not my fault; you know how I feel about large crowds!" The few people who stood in the small private booth with them seemed to ignore the two teens with little effort. Jia-Long rolled his eyes lightly and lead Emil to their seats in the front of the booth._

_ "They aren't even, like, looking at you; they can't see into the booth that well."_

_ "People were staring at us when we walked in," Emil eyed the dark haired male next to him. "Are we even supposed to be in here? It seems a bit much..We didn't even buy tickets."_

_ "You ask, like, way too many questions, Emil," Jia-Long sighed. He had been trying his best to surprise Emil, but it was just about impossible._

_ "I just don't want to get arrested again," Emil grumbled._

_ "We weren't arrested," A faint smile played on Jia-Long's lips. "Think of it as, like, a special escort home on behalf of our special artistic talents as children."_

_ "Jia-Long, we were arrested for spray-painting on public property. Then, to top it off, you were charged with arson when they found your firecrackers."_

_ "They had no proof of my intentions."_

_ "You were a repeat offender."_

_ "That doesn't mean that I was, like, going to do it again."_

_ "You already had an apology letter written out in advance to leave at the scene of the crime."_

_ "Can never be too careful, can we?" Emil finally decided to give up; there was no winning against Jia-Long._

_ "Whatever, we weren't arrested then."_

_ "Oh, we were definitely arrested. I just wanted you to be wrong, I suppose." Emil scowled and turned his attention to the booth's window so that he could pay attention to the man who was attempting to quiet the crowd. A loud buzzard sounded and the deafening buzz of conversation dulled enough for the man to be heard with his microphone._

_ "Hello everyone," he brushed a few strands of his short black hair behind his ear. "I am martial arts trainer Kiku Honda. Thank you for coming here to support my students; it is greatly appreciated. I would like to take this time to welcome you all to this year's Martial Arts Showcase. My students have trained hard to be able to provide you with an entertaining display of their talents. We will have solo performers, as well as a few groups. Near the end of the show, we will have this year's Showdown, which will be between two of my students chosen at random from a name raffle. Then, the students will each be presented to you in our final class performance, in which all of my students will have a chance to be the show-offs that I know they are."_

_ Jia-Long, along with many people in the crowd chuckled lightly with Honda-sensei. Emil frowned lightly; he didn't know that there was a display like this every year. It was by no means strange that Jia-Long knew, however, seeing as he was a martial arts enthusiast._

_ "Do you come to this every year?" Emil turned to Jia-Long as Honda-sensei left the arena._

_ "Something like that," the Asian male shot Emil a fleeting smirk. "Are you comfortable? This usually lasts a long time."_

_ Shrugging, Emil turned his attention to the now darkened arena. After a few moments, the arena was fully lit again and one solitary child stood in the center. She looked to be about 8-years-old and she wore a slightly oversized judo uniform. The crowd cheered as she shot everyone a toothy grin and bowed. Emil couldn't help but smile back at her, though Jia-Long scowled. As soon as she'd straightened up, the girl's face turned serious and she began a series of graceful, fluid movements. Over a set of speakers, a soft ballad began to play. Though she was actually demonstrating different techniques, the way she executed the moves made it seem as if she was dancing. When she was done and the music ended, everyone applauded and the small girl ran out of the arena._

_ For an hour, the students went on, displaying their talents. They did so many martial arts that Emil lost count and had to ask Jia-Long countless times what they were doing. Some of the performances were battles between classmates; some of them were solo students showing the crowd why they had a black belt in one thing or another. A few students even had an intense battle using all types of weapons. Eventually, the lights dimmed again and stayed dimmed for a little longer than they did earlier. Jia-Long abruptly stood up and stretched._

_ "I'll be right back, okay? Keep your eyes on the arena for me," He was gone before Emil could complain. Huffing lightly, Emil turned his attention back to the dark arena. The crowd was getting restless and it made Emil wonder if this was an unplanned part of the event. Jia-Long was taking his time coming back to the booth, making Emil worry slightly. _

_Just when he decided to go and look for the brunette, the arena lit up again. Emil gasped, staring at both of the figures in the center of the arena. One of them was Jia-Long, staring straight up into the booth at Emil. The other was also a brunette and, unlike Jia-Long, he was waving and cheering at the whole crowd. Emil's heart seemed to stop as he recognized the face of this waving boy. He was one of Them, though Emil didn't know his name. The sound of energetic music pulled Emil out of his shock and he watched in horror as the two males turned towards each other. He couldn't help but gasp as the two began to fight, constantly clashing and mixing their martial arts styles. _

_The crowd seemed too stunned to move and everything fell silent under the music. Emil flinched every time it looked as if Jia-Long got hit, though most of the blows were blocked only seconds away from making contact. The two males in the arena fought fiercely, throwing their hardest punches and attempting to flip each other. Before their lack of actually hitting each other became boring for the crowd, Jia-Long landed a hard kick to the other boy's chest. He stumbled, his previously cocky grin fading into a breathless grimace. Before the fight could continue, the music ended. Only then did Jia-Long relax, standing normally for a moment, before giving the crowd a short bow. The other boy was too busy glaring at Jia-Long and rubbing his chest to resume waving at everyone. Emil watched in frightened awe as the boy rose and charged at Jia-Long, who had turned to walk away. The last thing Emil saw before the lights dimmed was Jia-Long turning around just as the other brunette cocked his arm back to throw a punch._

_"Jia-Long!" Emil jumped out of his seat and placed his hands on the window. He ignored the whispering of the small group of strangers behind him and stared down, trying his hardest to see through the blanket of darkness that covered the arena. _

_Before Emil could run out of the room and find his way down to the arena, the lights came back on. Emil was instantly disappointed as he saw that the announcer, who looked a bit upset, was the only one in the arena. Sinking into his seat, Emil couldn't help but start fidgeting again. He barely paid attention as the names of the two fighters in the Showdown were called. He paid even less attention to the intense battle between the 8-year-old girl and one of the older males who was in the weapons display. Emil barely even blinked as the 8-year-old girl brutally slammed the boy into the wall, knocking him out._

_After what seemed like ages, Honda-sensei brought out all of his students, except for the boy who lost the Showdown. By age, he allowed them all to introduce themselves and they each did one of their showier looking moves. Emil only tuned in when the boy who fought against Jia-Long stepped up, looking particularly satisfied._

_"What a wonderful crowd we have, da~ze!" He exclaimed happily. "I am Im Yong Soo and I invented martial arts!" Emil stiffened in his seat as Yong Soo went on to do an elaborate flip, followed by a series of kicks. After a minute or two of showboating, Yong Soo gave Honda-sensei back the microphone and stepped back into the group. Jia-Long stepped up next and gave the crowd a blank look._

_"My name is Leon," the crowd grew silent. "I've been training with Honda-sensei since I was a small boy and over that time, I've gained a total of twenty black belts."_

_Everyone seemed to hold their breath as they waited for Jia-Long to do something spectacular. Instead, he simply turned and walked out of the arena. A few of the students gasped at the obvious display of disobedience and the crowd began murmuring in disappointment._

_It took a total of two minutes for Honda-sensei to properly dismiss everyone and close the show. Emil sat in his seat, not sure if he should leave with the group or not. The few people who were in the booth with him lingered for a few seconds before leaving him alone in the booth. Emil continued looking down at the now empty arena, waiting to see a sign of what he should do._

_"Didn't I, like, tell you to stop fidgeting?" Emil whipped around to find a smirking Jia-Long. He would've been happier to see Jia-Long, but there was a dark bruise on his cheek that made Emil's stomach churn._

_"He punched you," Jia-Long's smirk faded._

_"You saw that?" Emil nodded and Jia-Long sighed. "Well, don't worry about it. It looks worse than it feels, I suppose."_

_"Well it looks terrible," Emil grumbled, walking up to Jia-Long._

_"Stop worrying so much," Jia-Long avoided Emil's hand as it came up to touch his cheek. "A weak punch like that is nothing for me."_

_"His punches are definitely not weak," Jia-Long's eyes narrowed as Emil looked to the ground, studying his shoes._

_"You've met him before?" Emil didn't even need to answer. His lack of a response told Jia-Long that Yong Soo was far from a childhood friend._

_"He's her brother," Emil muttered after a long moment. Jia-Long nodded._

_"Looks like I'll be having fun during our sparring sessions." Jia-Long smirked, trying to lighten the mood. Emil scoffed lightly._

_"If anything, you'll just be more bruised up. I might have to invest in first aid just to keep you alive." It was Jia-Long's turn to scoff._

_"I'll be dead in a week if that's the case."_


	7. Chapter 7

Emil

I've always been the vulnerable one in the friendship between Jia-long and I. Not only am I not physically inclined, I'm the emotional one. Jia-Long never lets his emotions control him; he's always so stoic. I'm not sure why, but whenever he shows me his actual feelings, I feel so...important. I almost wish he would do so more often, but it wouldn't be special anymore if he did. Stupid Jia-Long, making me feel conflicted. At least I'm not in a classroom full of people right now; with my luck, the teacher would choose my one moment of spacing out to call on me for an answer that I obviously didn't have.

_Click!_ The sound of the rooftop door's lock opening brought me out of my jumbled thoughts.

"Like, finally!" Jia-long muttered under his breath as he pushed the door open. I almost wish I'd gone to class.

Our sanctuary was completely ruined. The few scattered benches were either overturned or broken. There were random parts of the fence where small holes had been cut and most of the plants were either knocked over, or torn apart. The worst part was probably the spray paint. Apparently, the artistic youth of our generation had plenty of time to learn how to paint inappropriate words, not to mention pictures of a crudely drawn Jia-long and a puppy. The puppy was mostly white and its eyes were the strangest shade of...

"Is that supposed to be me?" I couldn't stop the incredulous statement from piercing through the previous silence. Do my so-called peers actually view me as a small puppy that follows Jia-long around? I was almost offended until I reminded myself that it wasn't too far from the truth.

"I think a better question would be who did this and how they knew this was our place," Jia-long's calm voice flowed through the air. Strangely enough, whoever did this wasn't my main concern. I only cared about Jia-long's reaction. Even stranger, all he did was stare. He stared at the holes in the fence. He stared at the broken benches where we used to sit and talk for hours. He stared at the dying plants that had barely gotten a chance to live. He stared into the open sky; he stared at the previously nearly bare, gravel-topped, and now spray-paint-covered rooftop. He stared at our place—can I even call it that anymore?

Suddenly, I was angry; the angriest I'd ever been in my life. How _dare_ they ruin this place? It was the only place in school where Jia-Long could relax; the only place where his past didn't matter. Who are they to hate him because he loves martial arts and fighting? Who are they to judge anyone? I wanted to punch something! Why are they targeting us? Is it because we don't fight back? Jia-Long only puts up with the harassment because he doesn't want to get expelled. He puts up with the harassment because of me; he thinks he can't just leave me alone here. Then, my anger changed its course. Why is it that I always end up holding him back? Jia-Long protects me from Them, and I repay him by making him endure these peoples' bullying? Why am I so weak? It makes me sick to know that all of this could be my fault. If I wasn't such a weakling, maybe he wouldn't have to go through so much. And why is he just standing here? Does he feel anything? Does he not realize just how wrong this whole situation is? Doesn't he realize that all of the bullying could stop if he just stood up for himself? Why won't he just stand up for himself? Why won't he stop pretending not to care about the world? And then I did punch something. Unfortunately for me, the nearest thing was the metal door. Pain shot up my arm and I heard several cracking noises as I slid to the ground.

He stopped staring then. Jia-Long, with his usual stoic mask, bent down to try and help me up. Ignoring the pain in my right hand, I jerked away from him, glaring. And we stayed like that for what seemed like hours, just staring into each other's eyes.

"What's your problem, Emil? This, like, won't even take long to fix." That only managed to make me want to punch him. I didn't though; it only takes one wrong move for one to learn that Jia-Long does not take kindly be being hit. As a matter of fact, he sees it as a challenge. That didn't stop me from using my good hand to push him away.

"My _problem_ is that our place is ruined and you don't even care!" A few angry tears slid down my cheeks. "You never seem to care about anything; you act like you don't even have a heart to care with!"

Jia-Long's eye twitched lightly and he sighed.

"I _do_ care, Emil. That's why I'm going to fix it, I suppose." Strangely enough, that was all that had to be said in order for me to calm down. Maybe I was overreacting a bit, after all. Slowly, I relaxed and allowed myself to be held by Jia-Long. He didn't say anything else; he just hugged me while I finished crying. The strangest part was that I didn't feel weak. I didn't know why I was still crying, but it felt good to have Jia-Long hold me like this.

* * *

_First Meeting, pt. 2_

_ Emil yawned as Jia-Long read to him. This arrangement was agreed upon when Emil complained that he couldn't keep up with Jia-Long's reading speed. That complaint lead to what was almost a full conversation about why Emil couldn't read as fast as Jia-Long, even though Emil was only slightly younger than Jia-Long. Apparently, Jia-Long's father encouraged him to learn to speed read. And Jia-Long mistook that for the norm. After almost making Emil cry, Jia-Long offered to read to Emil since he couldn't speed read out loud._

_ Emil was surprised at how soothing Jia-Long's voice was. It was as if he plucked his voice straight out of one of Emil's old white noise tapes; the only difference being that Jia-Long's voice wasn't extremely annoying to each and every passerby. Jia-Long didn't even seem to notice that Emil was falling asleep until the younger boy's head landed on his shoulder. Looking up from the book, Jia-Long attempted to look at Emil, but failed because of how close they were. _

_After hearing a light snore, Jia-Long simply rolled his eyes and continued to read out loud. He didn't need an audience to read his book. If he had to admit it—and he would rather eat his father's food than do so—Jia-Long was glad that he made a new friend. He was a crybaby and has a really annoying whining voice when he complained, but Emil was actually nice company. At least he was when he wasn't talking._

_After reading another two chapters, Jia-Long slid his makeshift bookmark—which was just a piece of paper—into the aged pages. In the time it had taken Jia-Long to finish reading, Emil had unconsciously decided to thwart any attempts at ignoring him. He had flailed this way and that way, he'd adjusted himself multiple times, and had even rolled onto his side; yet each movement only made him more restless. Then, Emil's head had made its way to Jia-Long's lap. Instead of waking him up with a well-deserved clout to the head, Jia-Long simply rolled his eyes again and shifted his book on top of Emil's face._

_Since he'd finished his reading for the day, Jia-Long had nothing to do. His father was somewhere in the crowd of older people, so he couldn't go home like he wanted to. The last time he'd tried to drive a car, it wasn't pretty. The other children were already aware of his reputation for fighting, so they steered very clear of the corner he inhabited. The only time any of them approached him was to retrieve a toy that had made its way over to the corner. Even then, they didn't see it fit to stay and chat with him._

_Sighing, Jia-Long removed his book from Emil's face to check and see if he was still alive. His eyes widened slightly as he studied the younger boy for signs of life. Silky silver locks clung to smooth-looking, fair skin and the boy's peaceful face was like a doll's. Steady, even breathing and lightly blushing cheeks certainly didn't make Emil less appealing. The mile-long stream o drool, on the other hand, did. Yes, he was definitely alive. Jia-Long scowled at Emil for a second longer and placed the book back on Emil's face._

_"And just what do you think you're doing, Leon?" Jia-Long rolled his eyes and looked up into his father's obviously disapproving face._

_"My name is Jia-Long, Arthur," Blank brown eyes met irritated green ones. "And what does it look like?"_

_"It looks like you're attempting to suffocate that little girl, _Leon_."_

_"Close, but no cigar, _Arthur_."_

_"Where do you learn this language? And stop trying to murder her!"_

_"I learn a lot from your detective books, I suppose. And where on earth do you see a girl?" Jia-Long tilted his head to the side in an attempt to look confused and innocent. Arthur, as it seemed, refused to be fooled._

_"Stop reading things that you aren't supposed to! And I'm talking about the girl under the book!" Jia-Long almost laughed at Arthur's distress, but he refrained. This was quickly becoming his favorite pastime._

_"It was on my bookshelf," Arthur's eyes narrowed. "And I'm telling you there isn't a girl here."_

_"Listen you-," Arthur was interrupted by a hand landing on his shoulder. Lukas stepped forward, having witnessed the whole argument, and bent down to stare Jia-Long in the eyes. They stared at each other silently for a long time. Suddenly, Jia-Long removed the book from Emil's face, his expression faultlessly blank, and his eyes never leaving Lukas'._

_"Good boy," Lukas' lips twitched ever-so-slightly into a smirk. Jia-Long scowled up at Lukas, who was picking up Emil, who was still fast asleep. Arthur watched this whole interaction in amazement._

_"How did you get him to give up without even talking?" Lukas shrugged, standing and turning toward his friend._

_"I guess I'm good with kids."_

* * *

A/N

Hey guys~

Sorry this chapter is so short, I just really wanted to get a chapter out today. I haven't updated in a long time it seems . I'll be sure to update again soon with the rest of what I should've written today. Curse these weather changes for making me sick -.-

Anyway, Notes:

*Hm..i actually dont think I need a note this time. If anything is unclear, dont hesitate to point it out and I'll fix it!


	8. Chapter 8

Jia-Long

The principal's office is a place that never changes. No matter how many years pass, it always has the same feel to it. The feeling that you're in big trouble and you just know you can't escape it. At least, that's what other people say about it. I, on the other hand, am too familiar with this room to think it harmful.

I sighed, wondering how Emil was doing. After the incident on the roof, I took him back to the nurse, who looked just about ready to pass out when she saw him again. It was the second time in one day, after all. She then explained to me that the principal was looking for me and that I should go to the office immediately. Any other teacher would have been ignored, but Miss Braginskaya was a very sweet woman and it felt wrong to ignore her. Thus I found myself awaiting sure punishment for something that was probably going to be exaggerated.

"Leon Wang?" The secretary said my name with such exhaustion; one would think that I'm here every day. After a small sneeze and a once-over with the hand sanitizer that the secretary had on her desk, I stood up and made my way into the actual office from the waiting area.

Upon entering, I shivered at the temperature drop and pulled my hoodie closer around my body. Why was it always so cold in here? I passed Coach Williams, who was standing on the side of the doorway and gave him a small nod, which he returned, before I walked to the only empty seat left in the room. On one side of the desk was Mr. Zwingli, who sat glaring at me impatiently. I almost smirked, knowing that his patience had come to an end a long time ago, but refrained. The last thing I needed was for him to get more upset with me.

The only empty chair in the room was on the other side of the desk and was separated from the other two chairs. As I sat down, I immediately realized why. Jett Wilson sat in the seat closest to me, looking down at his lap to avoid my gaze. His arm was in a make-shift cast, which I was happy to see. The other chair's inhabitant almost surprised me, though it shouldn't have. Ralph Wilson has always hated me, I suppose. I kept my face neutral to avoid showing how much I wanted to punch him. He was obviously the one who threw the ball at Emil.

"Alright, you trouble-makers, listen up!" Mr. Zwingli leaned forward in his seat to glare at each of us. "I'm going to ask a few questions. I want an _honest_ answer from the person I ask, and only the person I ask! None of you better bother trying to lie, because I can tell what the truth is and what it isn't."

I rolled my eyes yet again, causing his glare to zero in on me.

"One of you, maybe all of you, if I'm lucky, is going to be punished. If it were up to me, I'd expel the lot of you and get it over with! Due to district rules, however, you have a fighting chance. I wouldn't waste that chance if I were you, Wang. Now, let's get on with the investigation."

Why he chose to be in charge of teenagers is beyond me. This man should be the head of our police forces.

* * *

Emil

"Now, if it starts to hurt too much, be sure to tell me. I can't x-ray it here, so I'll have to send you to the hospital. I'm going to call your older brother to pick you up now."

I grimaced. The last thing I wanted was for Lukas to come rushing up to the school to scold me for breaking my own hand. I stared down at the complex, yet professional wrapping of my 'cast'. Since she doesn't have the right materials, Miss Braginskaya can't make an actual cast here, but she does a pretty good job trying. Sighing lightly, I leaned back on the bench, which I'd already been on once today. I can't believe I was stupid enough to punch that door.

"Emil?" I looked up to see the blonde nurse giving me a slightly worried look. "Your brother would like to speak with you."

I tried not to scowl too hard for Miss Braginskaya's sake; the last thing I wanted was for her to start crying. I grabbed the phone from her with my left hand and barely had time to hold it to my ear before the scolding started.

"Just what were you doing to break your hand?" Lukas was using his 'angry' voice. Which is really just his normal tone at a faster pace. "I swear, Emil, if you're being bullied at that school-"

"I'm not being picked on; I just punched a door Lukas."

"You obviously are being picked on from what I heard earlier. I still can't believe some kid threw a ball at your face. And just why would you punch a wall? Emil, how many times have I told you not to hit things when you're angry? This is just like when you were ten and you fractured your shin-"

"Lukas!" I shifted in my seat, all too aware that Miss Braginskaya was standing only a few feet away. "Will you please calm down? I'll tell you about everything on the way home. How soon can you pick me up?"

The line went silent for a long moment.

"Lukas?"

"I can't pick you up right now, Emil," he said softly. "I have two really big meetings today and the first one is in ten minutes. If I miss these meetings, I'll be in trouble."

This time, I was the one who went silent. What did he mean by trouble?

"If you just wait in the nurse's office, I can pick you up in about an hour."

"It's fine, Lukas," I tried not to sound as worried as I actually was. "I can walk home, I'm not a child."

"Emil, I really don't feel comfortable with you walking alone. Take Leon with you."

I rolled my eyes. Of course he babies me anyway.

* * *

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Miss Braginskaya was not at all comfortable with me leaving alone. "Maybe I should get one of the security guards to escort you?"

"No, it's really fine," I awkwardly patted her shoulder in an attempt to reassure her. "I only live a few blocks from school."

"Maybe I should get the principal's permission first? If something happens-"

"Nothing will happen to me," I tried to give her a smile. "It's the middle of the day. Besides, I won't be alone. As soon as I find Jia-Long, I'll get him to escort me."

The blonde tilted her head in confusion.

"You mean Leon Wang?" I nodded. No one else in the school really calls Jia-Long by his Chinese name. "Why, he can't leave right now. He's been called down to Mr. Zwingli's office."

I'm going to kill that lying idiot. I should have known that something was up when he left for the bathroom and never came back. I'd rather have him lighting firecrackers in the toilets again than being expelled.

"Really now?" Though I tried to stay calm, I could feel my left eye twitching. "How long do you think he'll be in there?"

She looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Well, the office pass said that he was under full interrogation, and it's been about twenty minutes. Maybe forty-five minutes?"

If not for her sweet and vulnerable disposition, I probably would have expressed my impatience to Miss Braginskaya. Why was everyone going to be busy for such a long time? Instead, I simply took a deep breath and counted to three.

"I have a cell phone, so I'll be fine walking alone," I gave her a quick smile before standing up and leaving. The last thing I wanted was to give her an excuse to make me wait for someone. Or worse, have an escort.

Our security guards do more harm than good when they escort students. I remember when one of them tried to grab Jia-Long to prevent him from crossing the street. I cringed lightly and wondered how his hand was doing. Something bad seems to happen every time they try to escort someone home. The point is that I don't want any of them to escort me home. After going through several hallways, I arrived at one of the exits and looked around in slight surprise. No one was guarding it. As a matter of fact, the hallways were completely abandoned the whole way here. Was something special happening today? I shrugged, deciding to take it as good luck, and shouldered the door open. I didn't have an exit pass and Miss Braginskaya probably called the security office to get one of them to find me, so it was in my best interest to just leave now. The last thing I need is for security to escort me to the principal's office because they think I'm skipping class.

The early afternoon air was warm and the heat felt wonderful on my skin. It was a nice change from the slightly cold school building. I looked around, decided on which side of the gate I should exit, and then began to walk. As soon as I'd exited the school's gate, I saw that people were walking in every direction. I shrugged, assuming they were on lunch break, and continued on my way. Surprisingly, no one bothered me. Usually, when you see a kid my age walking the streets while school is supposed to be in session, you question it. At least most people in this town do. I'm not really one for complaining about good luck though, so I kept walking. It probably had something to do with my arm. The cast was very noticeable, so I wouldn't be surprised. The closer I got to my street, the less crowded the sidewalk was.

I turned onto Jia-Long's street, simply because I was tired of being on main streets, and collided with someone. Being caught off guard, I stumbled back and almost fell down. Who on Earth just stands at a corner like that? At least I didn't hurt my hand further. I looked up, grumbling an apology, and was met with three pairs of eyes. Three pairs of eyes that I would rather not see.

"Well," Yong Soo smirked at me. "We're just getting luckier by the day, aren't we?"

"Let me through," I glared at him, trying to look tough. "I don't have time for this today."

"Oh, he doesn't have time? Little Emil's in such high spirits today~!" I took a small step back as I turned my eyes on Mei Wang. She looked adorable, as usual, but I knew better than to underestimate her cruelty.

"Are you going to take that from him, Soo?" I finally turned my glare on the group's oldest female. Lien Chung. Unlike the other members of her group, Lien didn't smirk at me. I don't think she even knows how to smile.

"I said to let me through, Lien." Yong Soo's smirk faltered and he grabbed my shirt, slamming me into the wall of the candy store. For the second time this week.

"Don't talk to my sister like that, daze." His eyes were as cold and hard as marble. "Now, how about we get started with our game, Emy?"

As much as I tried, I knew that I wouldn't be able to fight them of with one arm. I couldn't even do it with two. Regardless I struggled as much as possible, wishing I had waited at school for Jia-Long.

"Wait, Soo," Lien's calm voice made everyone except me freeze. "We're too close to public eyes."

"Let's take him behind the candy store~" Mei met my eyes with a sickeningly sweet smile. "I heard that our little Emil likes sweet things."

"No," There was a small twinkle of cruelty in Lien's eyes. "I think we should take him back with us. The rest of the group would be disappointed if they missed out."

* * *

_This Is Goodbye_

_ It was common for Emil to call Jia-Long and tell him that he would be staying the night. Tell, not ask. The two boys had been friends for the past four years and there were few things that could keep them away from each other. Arthur didn't mind the violet-eyed boy's constant presence. It was nice to have someone to keep Jia-Long out of trouble; the young teen just couldn't keep away from his firecrackers. As long as Emil was safe, Lukas didn't try to keep him away from Jia-Long. And Yao? Well, he enjoyed dressing little Emil up, so he had no problem with frequent visits._

_Emil's presence in the Kirkland-Wang household was in fact so common that no one really questioned it anymore. If he showed up at dinner, it was safe to assume that the white-haired boy had been there since lunchtime. That being said, no one was alarmed when Emil showed up at their door one summer day without notice. No one except Jia-Long, that is._

_"What are you, like, doing here, Emil?" The dark haired boy questioned, opening the door wide enough for Emil to walk in._

_"I had to get here as soon as possible!" The slightly younger boy exclaimed, practically falling over himself to remove his shoes. "I didn't have time to call."_

_"It's not like you need to, I suppose. Want to, like, watch movies today? I made Yao order me some really cool Kung Fu movies from, like, Hong Kong last week and they just got here in the mail."_

_Emil shook his head, looking distressed._

_"We don't have time to watch movies!" To this, Jia-Long tilted his head. When did they not have time for movies in the summer? "Can't you tell that something really bad happened?"_

_"What happened?" Jia-Long couldn't help but take a small step back when Emil started to tear up. He was _not_ going to deal with Emil's crying again._

_"Lukas is just the worst brother ever!" Jia-Long relaxed as the opening line of several past speeches was uttered. Unfortunately for Jia-Long, his friend took that as a sign that hugging was allowed. And hug he did. Emil practically jumped on Jia-Long, who barely had time to react in such small space. He found himself trapped in a rather tight hug with Emil crying into his chest. Joy. To make things better, Emil was spouting incoherent nonsense about the whole situation._

_"Who was at the door, ar-" Yao stopped mid-question as he saw the two boys. Jia-Long gave Yao his best impression of a pleading look, as if asking for help. The older male simply raised an eyebrow. "He's your friend, aru."_

_With that, the two boys were left alone yet again. And Jia-Long was already making plans for his revenge. First, he had to get Emil to stop crying, though._

_"Erm, Emil?" Jia-Long still didn't know how to comfort crying people very well. "I'm sure it's not that bad. Like, calm down and tell me what happened. You're too old to cry like this, you, like, turned twelve almost two weeks ago!"_

_"B-But!" Emil loosened the hug and stood back to look at Jia-Long. "I won't even be able to stay for your birthday!"_

_Jia-Long frowned at this._

_"What are you, like, talking about?" Emil pouted and wiped a few tears from his eyes._

_"Weren't you listening? Lukas said that we have to leave tomorrow, and your birthday is the day after that!" Jia-Long was still very confused._

_"And why are you leaving? Where are you guys going?" At this, Emil huffed, tired of repeating himself._

_"You really didn't listen. Someone at the bank bought Mom and Dad's house and we can't live there anymore! Apparently, there was a…a looper-hole in the contract, whatever that means. All I know is, they bought us a new house, but it's really far away! I can't even go to the same school anymore!" And Emil started to tear up all over again._

_Jia-Long did nothing as Emil hugged him again. Nothing but stare at the wall behind Emil and hope this was a bad dream. The wetness of his shirt was all too real though, and after a while, he returned the hug. They stayed like that for nearly twenty minutes before Emil calmed down._

_"Why do you have to, like, leave so quickly?" Jia-Long's voice was the same bland tone as usual._

_"Lukas said something about just getting it over with. He didn't seem upset about leaving at all!"_

_"That's because he has no friends besides Arthur."_

_"This is serious, Jia-Long!"_

_"That is why I'm trying to, like, lighten the mood, Emil."_

_The two boys stared at each other for a long moment._

_"Will you be able to come and say goodbye?" Jia-Long asked softly. Emil shook his head._

_"Since there wasn't a lot to pack, Lukas is calling the movers early."_

_"Well," Jia-Long sighed. "I guess we have to say goodbye right now."_

_Emil shook his head again._

_"I don't want to! I don't want to leave you, Jia-Long!" Jia-Long ruffled the slightly younger boy's hair and gave him a rare smile. Emil's eyes grew large at the sight of it._

_"We'll meet again, I suppose. So, for now, can we, like, get some ice cream? And watch those movies? I promise to hide you if Lukas comes looking before midnight."_

_Emil finally smiled. This was the Jia-Long that only he knew._

* * *

Emil

At some point during that afternoon, I blacked out. It was most likely from pain, considering my broken hand and the fact that I had a run in with Them. I was vaguely aware of that pain, however, for a very long time.

"Oh no," The unfamiliar voice sounded as if it were being heard through water. I was floating in and out of consciousness. I would open my eyes and see nothing but the blue sky, close them, and when they opened again, the sky had been replaced by wood. Sometimes, there were voices, other times not.

Finally, I resurfaced completely. That unfortunately meant that all of my pain hit me at full force. My right hand felt even worse than earlier, my head hurt, and my stomach felt like I had been hit with a wooden table there. You know the feeling of hitting your hip against a table? That feeling was coursing through my abdomen like the molten, liquid core of the Earth. I groaned, wishing I hadn't woken up. Upon opening my eyes, I hissed and shut them tightly again. Why was it so bright in here?

"Oh, I think He's awake!" A young woman's voice called out. I heard quiet footsteps approach the room.

"Thank you so much for watching over him, Lili-chan," the voice from earlier said, but it was much more familiar and clear. I cracked one eye open again and tried to sit up, only to be pushed back down by soft hands.

"Oh, no, you mustn't move yet!" the female voice told me. "It's possible that you have a small concussion."

A small concussion? Was I in the hospital? Once my eye had adjusted to the lighting, I opened it fully and glanced around myself. I seemed to be lying on a very soft mat on the floor. It was thinner than a mattress, but just as comfortable. The room had a wooden roof and strange paper walls. Like the ones they have in Japan…Was I in Japan?! I tried to sit up again, but was pushed back down. Finally, my eyes fell on the lady who was holding me down. She had a cute, short bob that looked as if it was cut off with a razor and she was wearing some private high school's uniform. I frowned, trying to think about what was wrong with this picture. I couldn't place it until I met her sparkling green eyes and she smiled at me.

"Hello, I'm Lili Zwingli," Her smile was replaced with worry, "Are you alright? You look like you're in a lot of pain."

Oh, I was in pain alright. I'm surprised that I'm not dead already. This girl with her hands on my chest is very dangerous indeed. She's the kid sister of Principal Zwingli! Physical contact with her is like signing your own death contract! I cautiously scanned the room, looking for my perpetually angry principal, but the only other person there was a short, dark-haired male. I blinked at him a few times, trying to decide where I knew him from. He caught my gaze and gave me a soft smile. What was with everyone and smiling today?

"Ah, you seem to be confused, Emil-san," How did he know my name? "I'm Honda Kiku, remember? I train Leon-tan in martial arts."

So that's why he looks so familiar. I've only met him a few times before, but I knew him well enough to know that I hadn't been kidnapped. He stared at me for a long while and I realized that I hadn't said a word this whole time.

"Kiku, is he really alright? He hasn't responded to anything so far." Lili said, right on cue. I wondered who she was to him that she could address him by first name.

"I'm fine," The words were a struggle to get out; my whole face hurt badly. "How did I get here?"

"I found you outside and I didn't know what to do, so I brought you here," Lili looked worried, as if I would be angry with her. "Kiku helped me clean you up and treat any wounds we saw. I also rewrapped your right hand; you know that it's broken, right?"

I nodded, and then groaned at the pain caused by the action. How the hell would I explain all of this to Lukas? Lukas! I shot up into a sitting position, ignoring Lili's attempt to make me lay down and the spinning of my head.

"My brother," I managed to get out. Luckily, Kiku seemed to understand.

"I didn't want to invade your privacy, so I didn't look through your cellphone for a number to call, Emil-san."

Great. Lukas was probably going absolutely crazy. How long have I been out anyway?

"Although," Lili interrupted, seeing my distress. "I did call Leon and he said that he was on his way. Apparently, my big brother decided to have a long chat with him after sending those other boys home."

For the most part, Lili just confused me. I had no idea who he was in the office with. The only thing I knew was that Jia-Long was on his way to come and get me.

"Though, Leon can't take you home by himself." I mentally cursed. Finally getting used to sitting up, I looked around.

"Well, how can I get home? I have no idea what time it is, but I'm sure my brother is freaking out right now."

"I will take both you and Leon to your house after he arrives and finishes his punishment." I looked at Kiku as if he's gone mad.

"Punishment?"

"He's still my student after all," Kiku's eyes twinkled mischievously. "I don't get to punish him for being sent to the principal every day. Though, I'll try to make sure Vash doesn't go too far with _his_ punishment. The last thing I want is for Leon to have to move schools."

It seems Kiku wasn't as bad most people would assume. Though, I have to wonder just what his relationship with Principal Zwingli is.

"Sensei?" Jia-Long's calm voice echoed through the hallway.

"We are in the medical room," Kiku barely raised his voice, but Jia-Long appeared in the doorway moments later. He gave Kiku a quick bow before quickly making his way to my side and kneeling down.

"Are you alright, Emil?" I glared lightly at him and used my good hand to grab at his cheek. "I'm sorry; I know that it's my fault."

I immediately let go of his cheek. Why was he saying that it was his fault?

"If I hadn't been in the office, I could have walked you home," he supplied, as if reading my mind. "As soon as Lukas called me, I knew something bad had happened, but I couldn't leave."

I shook my head.

"Don't blame yourself for things that you have little control over. I should have let someone escort me home. Lukas should be fine; I was only out for a little over an hour, right?"

I was confident until everyone fell silent. Looking around, I spotted my phone near my right hand. Reaching for it with my left hand, I flipped it open to read the time. It had been three hours. And Lukas had been trying to find me for at least two of those. I was almost afraid to look at my list of missed calls, but I pressed the button anyway.

_37 Missed Calls_. And only five of them were from people other than Lukas. He was going to kill me.

"Try not to become excited, you're still injured," Lili's reminder came at the perfect time. I was two seconds away from hyperventilating.

"I need to leave, _now_." I said, trying not to be too rude. Jia-Long and Kiku shared a long look before Kiku nodded.

"Jia-Long, you may complete your punishment exercise tomorrow considering the circumstances. I want you here at noon."

I'd never been so happy that Jia-Long had a caring martial arts instructor.

* * *

Jia-Long

Nothing made me happier than getting that phone call from Lili. At least, that's what I thought until I saw Emil's face again. It was all I could do to keep from tackling him in a hug and never letting go of him.

By the bruises on his arms and face, I could tell he had run into Them on the way home. I didn't say anything, deciding that I should just try to get him home safely this time. When Sensei told me that he was driving us home, I was initially put off, but agreed. Emil was in no condition to drive and the last thing I needed was to get stopped by the police and questioned about the injured boy on my back.

There was a lot of panic in town the last two hours, from what I'd heard. Lukas told me that some boy who seemed to be our age was found on the side of the road a few hours ago. He was badly injured and taken to the hospital, but not identified. Lukas had ended up calling me when Emil wouldn't answer the phone. I had tried to stay calm, but when Lukas said that Emil had already left school, I began to worry. As soon as school let out at 2:30, I'd received the call from Lili, and I rushed over to the dojo, only stopping when Mr. Zwingli called me back for a last word. And I had barely stopped for that.

The car ride home was mostly uneventful. Before we left, Honda-sensei locked up the dojo and sent Lili on her way, promising that he would make it to her house for dinner that evening. I didn't want to know any details, but something was definitely going on there.

"Brother will be happy to know that~." She had said with a knowing smile before bouncing away.

Upon entering the car, Emil somehow persuaded me to sit with him in the back. Honda-sensei didn't seem to mind, though I felt a little bad. I didn't want him to feel like he was chauffeuring us around. The ride was relatively short and Emil had asked me questions for half of the ride. I explained to him that I wasn't expelled for the gym incident, though I was on a 'parole' of sorts. If I so much as breathed out of line one more time, Mr. Zwingli had promised me a one-way ticket out of his school. Emil seemed slightly upset by all of this, but was too tired to actually say much. I know that you aren't supposed to let someone with a concussion go to sleep, but Emil seriously wouldn't stay awake. Besides, it was a very minor concussion.

The only downside of letting Emil go to sleep was having to carry him into his house. I knew that Lukas was waiting inside because his car was parked diagonally in the driveway. He was too worried to park straight? After thanking sensei for the ride and shifting Emil onto my back, I walked up the driveway to the house at a leisurely pace.

Before I was even at the door, it flew open to reveal a slightly disheveled, but blank faced Lukas and his idiotic tall friend, Matthias. Though it wasn't apparent on his face, Lukas was probably feeling extremely relieved, yet still worried. Emil wasn't awake, after all. He didn't move; he just stared at me as I walked up to the door with Emil on my back. Matthias, on the other hand, rushed out of the door to help me with Emil. I glared fiercely at him when he reached out to touch Emil and he immediately withdrew, complaining to 'Norge' that I was a 'scary kid'. Needless to say, Matthias was ignored.

Lukas moved out of the doorway right before I came in. I didn't bother kicking off my shoes for once and I kept walking until I'd reached Emil's room upstairs. Only after I had set Emil down on his bed did the other two enter the room. Lukas didn't say a word to me; he just gave me a quick hug, which I returned. I'd never really needed words to communicate with Lukas, so I knew that he was thanking me for bringing Emil home safely. After hugging me, he went straight to Emil's side with Matthias following closely behind. I didn't stay with them. As worried about Emil as I was, I didn't think that I could handle being in the same room as Lukas right then. The last thing I needed was to actually see him show emotion; it would probably scar me for life.

Not having anything else to do, I went home. Yao, though he was worried about me, didn't coddle me. He must have sensed that I just wasn't in the mood to be talked to. I immediately went up to my room, saying that I was going to take a nap.

Though I lay in my bed for an hour, sleep never came. I kept toying with my phone, wondering when would be a good time to check on Emil. I just couldn't stop worrying about him. I spent another hour trying to figure out why I was so out of sorts. Emil had been beat up by Them before, so that wasn't it. About halfway through that hour, I realized that it was because Emil could have died today. And there wasn't anything that I could do about it. I could go out and seek revenge, I could bottle up my pain and just try to live on, but nothing would bring Emil back to me. I'd never be able to see him smile again, or pout. I'd never get to see him cry at a sad part of some stupid movie. I wouldn't have anything but my memories. For some reason, the thought of losing Emil bothered me a lot more than I would have thought. It caused my chest to tighten up, and I frowned whenever it happened. What was going on with me?

* * *

A/N

Hey guys~. Whew, this chapter was long, huh? I was supposed to force myself to update last week before I went on a short vacation, but i didnt, so i decided that you guys deserved an extra long chapter! Sorry If it seems like I threw a lot of information at you ^^; i wanted to get at least 4,ooo words and ended up with 5,ooo, so its pretty long compared to my other chapters. ANYWAY, this chapter was a little fast-paced and I apologize if that makes it bad quality ^^:

Notes:

*The boys' school doesnt have a uniform

*Vash Zwingli-switzerland

*Ralph Wilson-Hutt River. He's Jett's cousin in the story.

*Nurse's office doesnt really have a lot of materials to make actual casts and such. All she can really do for serious injury is attempt t treat it, but call parents or hospital depending on what a students records say to do. Both Emil and Jett have 'call parents first' in their records.

*in order to leave school early, you need an exit pass. Emil's a rebel.

*Mei Wang-Taiwan

*Lien Chun-Vietnam

*Jia-Long is almost a whole year older than Emil, but he entered school late. Exactly two weeks after Emil turns 12, Jia-Long turns 13.

*i dont think I'll explain it in a flashback, so I'll put it here. Emil and Lukas' parents pretty much live in Norway. They had to leave when Emil was still a very small child for a business trip, and it ended up being something permanent. They still send money and letters to Lukas and Emil, but they only come back once in a while...aiyah, they sort of seem like bad parents...

*I dont know how it feels to have a concussion, but we'll assume it's accurate (says lazy writer who doesnt bother looking things up...)

*Lili Zwingli-Liechtenstein

*In the dojo, there is a medical room.

*Since he has been training Jia since he was young, Japan is affectionate enough towards him to call him Leon-tan

*There are very slight hints at SwitzerlandxJapan. Very slight.

Whew, I think thats all - . As usual, if anything is ultra confusin, please ask! i'll do my best to clarify~. thanks for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

Emil

I missed a week of school. To most people, that would be reasonable, but I didn't take it very well. The day after the incident with Them, Lukas took me to a doctor. I was too out of it to protest. After a few tests, the nameless doctor confirmed that I had a minor concussion and would need a few days' rest. Apparently, my head had been shaken violently and I would experience a few concussion symptoms because of it. Lots of bed rest was recommended. Doesn't sound too bad, right? Wrong. Lukas was like crazy prison warden. He wouldn't let me leave the house at all. I could barely even leave my room. All of my meals were brought up to me and I was escorted everywhere. At first, it wasn't so bad. I wasn't completely aware of everything a few days; I spent most of that time dealing with headaches and being extremely confused. I kept forgetting what I was doing and I asked Lukas why I wasn't in school a lot. When the fogginess left my brain, I remembered everything about that day pretty clearly, but I was too tired to actually enjoy my awareness.

Saturday, which was about three days after the incident, I woke up with no symptoms. No headache, no confusing fogginess, no seeing stars. I called out for Lukas, but got Arthur instead. He was unsurprisingly calm about me being awake and he explained that Lukas had to go to work for a while. Apparently, there were a few problems dealing with Lukas' absence from work lately. As odd as it was having Arthur take care of me, he wasn't bad company. We spent that morning drinking tea and talking about the few days before that. If not for that talk, I wouldn't have known anything about those days. When Lukas returned from work that afternoon, I requested that Arthur accompany me more often. Lukas seemed apprehensive, but eventually agreed since Arthur still had vacation days left. When Lukas had used his days off I would never know.

Jia-Long didn't visit at all. I had tried to call him a few times, but he refused to answer or return my calls. Whenever I called the house, there always a reason as to why Jia-Long didn't come to the phone. Yao would always tell me that Jia-Long was out or asleep. When I asked about him, Arthur would always slowly change the subject as if he knew a secret that I didn't know. The only information I was able to get out of him was that Jia-Long had taken up more practice hours at the dojo.

By the time Thursday night rolled around, I was too antsy to sleep. I knew that I had to return to school the next morning, but there was too much on my mind for me to sleep. Most of it involving Jia-long and his strange behavior. I just couldn't figure out why he was acting so strange. I glanced down at my cell phone and sighed lightly. I hadn't called him in a few days, so it couldn't hurt, right?

Flipping open my phone, I dialed the all-too familiar number. I bit my lip lightly as I waited to see if he would pick up. I could already feel myself getting nervous.

"Hello?" My heart nearly stopped as I heard the tired, yet familiar voice. He finally picked up!

"Jia-Long," I frowned as my voice cracked. What was wrong with me? "It's me, Emil."

There was a pause and a faint shuffling noise in the background.

"Oh," he murmured. We haven't talked in a week and that's all he can say?!

"H-How have you been?" I bit my lip, trying to keep my voice normal. "I heard you were training a lot."

"I've, like, been trying to improve, I suppose," he said softly. "So, like, how have you been?"

"My concussion is gone, but my hand has to heal a bit more," I smiled softly, unable to help myself, as I remembered how I broke my own hand. Jia-Long was quiet for a long moment again.

"Are you coming back to school soon?" I frowned. On the list of things that I had been expecting to hear, that was pretty low.

"I actually go back tomorrow," I bit the inside of my cheek as the nervousness returned. "I'm pretty nervous about going back, though. What if I get a mountain of make-up work?"

"Like, relax," Jia-Long chuckled and I couldn't help but smile too. I hadn't heard him laugh in a long time. "I took notes for you and, like, got all of your work. I didn't have time to drop it off, I suppose."

"I can get it in the morning," I said quickly. "We can go to school together, if you want."

"I'm not sure," He said after yet another silent moment. "I, like, run in the morning before school."

I frowned. Why was he acting like this?

"Alright," I said slowly. "How about you give me the work now, then?"

I knew that it was late and the schoolwork wasn't really that important to me. I just really wanted a chance to talk to Jia-Long in person before school started. I waited anxiously for his reply, which came agonizingly slow.

"I," he paused, as if gathering his thoughts. "I think you should, like, wait until school. It's really late, I suppose. Like, try to get some sleep, Emil."

And he hung up. I stared at my phone for a long moment. Did he seriously just rush me off of the phone and tell me to 'get some sleep'? I frowned, forcing my phone shut and setting it on my bedside table. So much for old promises.

* * *

_You're The One I'll Tell_

_ It was strange for Emil to see Jia-Long upset. The 11-year-old boy was usually the calm and collected one of the two. As long as they had been friends-which admittedly was only a little more than two years-Emil had never seen Jia-Long even close to crying. That was previously something only Emil did. Now, the small violet-eyed boy found himself awkwardly patting his dark-haired friend's back._

_ "It'll be okay, Jia," Emil lightly bit his lip as Jia-Long began sobbing all over again. It was a quiet sob, not one that would easily be heard from a distance. But Emil was sitting right next to Jia-Long and he heard the noise loud and clear. It was disturbing._

_Emil didn't know what to do! Any attempt that Emil made to cheer Jia-Long up only seemed to make the older boy cry more. And Jia-Long had made it clear that he didn't want to talk about it. When he had rushed into their house-making Lukas extremely unhappy-and wordlessly dragged Emil upstairs, Emil figured that there was something wrong. His suspicions were proven correct when his usually tough best friend started bawling in the corner of Emil's room._

_ "Jia," Emil whined softly. "Will you please just tell me what's wrong? It's been a whole hour!"_

_ His pleas were met with silence. Again. Emil was running out of ideas. He had no idea what happened, so he had no idea what to say to make his friend feel better. Jia-long eventually began to calm down, but he still didn't speak, much to Emil's frustration. Emil huffed as Jia-Long began wiping at his eyes._

_ "I just want to help, Jia!" he said with a frown. "If you don't want to tell me what happened, just say so instead of ignoring me."_

_ More silence. Emil couldn't take it anymore. Standing up, he gave Jia-Long one last huff before he turned to leave the room. Maybe Lukas would be able to help?_

_ "I heard Yao and Arthur talking," Jia-Long's voice was almost too quiet for Emil to hear. Blinking confusedly, Emil turned back to his friend._

_ "Talking about what? Is there something wrong?" Emil was at his friend's side as quickly as he could be. If Jia-Long finally wanted to talk, then Emil would listen._

_ "Well," Jia-Long hesitated as if finding the right words. "That depends on your definition of the word 'wrong'. Apparently, my real mom's family wants me back."_

_ Emil had to stop himself from throwing a fit. There was no way he would let his best friend move all the way to China! Emil had known that Jia-Long was adopted for almost as long as he had known the boy. That was his reasoning for calling both of his parents by first name. Emil still didn't know how Jia-Long found out about his adoption. All he knew was that Jia-Long's birthmother had passed away when he was a baby and had asked Yao to take care of him. The rest of Jia-Long's family was in China._

_ "Well, they aren't gonna let you go, right?" Emil's face was full of worry. Jia-Long shrugged._

_ "I don't know," he said quietly. "They didn't seem to upset about me having to go. Arthur told Yao that they had the right to want me back."_

_ Emil opened his mouth to object, but he was interrupted by Lukas, who was standing in the doorway._

_ "They don't want you to leave," Lukas stared straight at Jia-Long with his usual blank look. "As a matter of fact, when they found out you were gone, they absolutely freaked out. Yao was about to call the police, but Arthur made him wait until they talked to me. He sounded more distressed than Yao did about it, by the way. Your parents are on their way to pick you up."_

_ The two boys watched as Lukas closed the door without another word, and then they looked at each other. There was a long moment of silence. _

_ "Well, that's one problem solved," Emil gave Jia-Long a confused look._

_ "What did that solve, Jia?" Jia-Long ruffled Emil's hair, much to the younger boy's displeasure. Swatting away the offending hand, Emil attempted to glare at Jia-Long. He didn't manage for long. Jia-Long started laughing at Emil's 'angry' face and Emil joined him soon after. A laughing Jia-Long was hard to be angry at. Unless you're the police, of course._

_ "Well," Jia-Long said as he stood up, all traces of laughter completely gone. "Looks like I'm going home, I suppose."_

_ Emil sighed, still calming down from his laughing fit. He stood up as well, trying not to look Jia-Long in the eyes. He knew that if he did that, Jia-Long would see how sad he was about his friend leaving._

_ "Hey," Jia-Long grabbed Emil's chin gently and lifted it so that he could look his friend in the eyes. "I mean, like, to Yao and Arthur's house."_

_ Emil couldn't help but smile at his best friend. Somehow, Jia-Long always knew what Emil was worrying about._

_ "By the way, Emil," Jia-Long's hand moved down to Emil's shoulder. "I didn't mean to, like, make you feel ignored. I didn't want to say it, I suppose. I promise that I'll always tell you what's, like, bothering me. Even if I don't, like, want to."_

_ Jia-Long couldn't help the faint smile that came to his lips as Emil held up his pinky. Instead of teasing his violet-eyed friend for making such a childish gesture, Jia-Long wrapped his own pinky around Emil's._

_ "It's a promise then," Emil said happily. "Since you pinky promised, you can never, ever break that promise, okay?"_

_ Jia-Long nodded just as the door to Emil's bedroom burst open. Jia-Long barely had time to react before he was pulled into a long hug by both of his parents._

_ "Jia-Long," True to Lukas' word, Arthur looked much worse than Yao. "Why didn't you give us a bell? You can't just leave like that! We've been looking for you left, right and center! If we hadn't called Lukas, I don't know what we would have done!"_

_ Emil had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. Seeing Arthur worked up was always funny. Jia-Long, on the other hand, frowned. _

_ "Don't, like, call me that," Everyone stared at Jia-Long in confusion. "I want to be called Leon. Like, permanently, I suppose."_

_ "Are you serious right now?" Arthur pulled out of the hug enough to look at Jia-Long. "After all of the years you spent trying to force everyone to call you Jia-Long?"_

_ Jia-Long simply shrugged; no one would ever know the method to his madness. After a nice, long family talk Jia-Long finally agreed to go back home with Arthur and Yao. Emil, who eventually went downstairs with Lukas to give them some privacy, met the trio at the door._

_ "Have a nice night," Emil said as he hugged Yao and Arthur. He then turned to look at his best friend. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Ji-I mean Leon?"_

_ Emil didn't like it at all. The name felt weird on his tongue, but it was what his friend wanted, so he would get used to it. Jia-Long's eyes narrowed slightly._

_ "No, it doesn't, like, sound right from you, Emil," he said slowly. "You should call me Jia-Long, I suppose."_

_ The argument that followed proved to be very interesting indeed. _

* * *

Jia-Long

I stared at my phone for what seemed like hours after that. I shouldn't have answered the phone. Ever since he got attacked for the second time last week, I haven't been able to face Emil. For the past week, I've been training at every possible moment. I need to get stronger so I can protect Emil. Sensei wouldn't let me train for more than nine hours a day, though. He knows what I'm trying to do. I would go straight to the dojo after school and train for as long as he'd let me. Then, sensei told me that he was giving me a break. Three days ago, he told me to stop training for a few days and to give my body a rest. I still train when I can. I can't allow myself to have any time to think. Thinking is what got me into this mess in the first place.

Emil. I've become too dependent on him. In school, every day I still go straight to his locker before school. I wait there until I realize that he isn't coming to school. Then, I go about my school day as usual. As usual as I can without Emil. For some reason I can't fathom, Jett Wilson has decided to plague me with his presence at lunch. And almost all of my teachers have begun asking me questions during class. They usually seem surprised when I answer perfectly, even without Emil's help. Then there's the rooftop. Principal Zwingli easily caught the offenders and had the place cleaned up. The names of the people who ruined it are being kept secret, but the worst part is probably the fact that it's going to be blocked off for construction. For a whole month. All I could think about when I heard that was how upset Emil would be.

Shaking my head, I set my phone down and leaned against the wall. Why has it been so hard to face Emil lately? I went to his house the first few days following the incident. I made it upstairs once while Emil was asleep. I lingered for a moment and he opened his eyes, only to think that I was Jett Wilson of all people. I haven't seen Emil since. The other times I went to his house, I made food and left it downstairs for someone to take to Emil. I tried to take it up myself, but I couldn't force myself to walk up the stairs. So much for discipline and courage.

I grimaced as I remembered the nervous churning of my stomach whenever I had almost answered the phone. I didn't answer any of the calls though. Arthur tried his best to get me to call Emil. The knowledge that Emil was asking about me made me happy. At least he wasn't upset with me. He had every right to be, though. I told him that I would protect him and what did I do? I let him walk home all alone in the middle of the day. He had a concussion because of Them and I haven't even found out where Yong Soo was hiding. When I find him, there's going to be hell to pay.

I glanced up as there was a small knock on my door.

"Come in," I didn't even bother to raise my voice. Maybe if they didn't hear me, they would go away. There was no such luck as Arthur opened the door and stepped in, closing it behind him.

"How are you holding up?" It took all of my effort to bite back the overly sarcastic response.

"I'm fine, Arthur. I just, like, got off of the phone with Emil, actually." I don't know why I said it. Maybe deep down, I wanted Arthur's crazy advice from the fairies and this was my way of saying it.

"Well that's an improvement!" Arthur smiled, but didn't make a move to sit on the bed. "How did it go?"

"I, like, hung up on him when he asked for his make-up work."

The smile was gone. Arthur gave me a disapproving look.

"Leon," he started with a small sigh. "I told you to talk to him, not make him think you hate him."

I shrugged. I'm sure Emil knows that I didn't mean it that way.

"I couldn't take it, I suppose. He asked to, like, see me tonight and those stupid butterflies wouldn't-" I stopped myself. I hadn't mentioned the 'butterflies' to anyone yet. I figured that it was just a very mild case of food poisoning. One that only acted up when Emil was involved. Arthur raised an eyebrow; I silently marveled at that feat.

"Butterflies?" he asked, a smirk forming. "As in the kind that happen in your stomach when you're nervous?"

"Yes, butterflies," I scowled at him, meaning my eyebrows twitched downward and my eyes narrowed. Arthur simply smirked even more.

"I knew this would happen," I groaned inwardly as soon as he said it. Here we go. "Flying Mint Bunny told me so! And the fairies all denied it, but he was right!"

"Like, what are you talking about?" I wasn't sure that I really want to know.

"Love, of course!" he said, as if it had been obvious. "You obviously love Emil. Problem solved. Now it's off to bed with you."

Before I could protest, he was gone. He didn't even make a sound; he just swept out of the room. Arthur was such a strange dad. Rolling my eyes, I slid to lie down on my bed. That conversation got me nowhere. Of course I love Emil, we're like family! If I didn't love him, it would be weird. So why did the butterflies attack my insides every time the word 'love' came up?

* * *

A/N

Alrighty then. I'm not too happy with this chapter, but I really wanted to get something up. It's been an interesting week trying to writ this.

Notes:

*Concussions can be from a blow to the head or being shaken. Emil didn't have any damage to his head, meaning he was shaken severely. i wouldn't even know how to shake someone that hard.

*Emil _was_ pretty out of it last chapter, so i hope the symptoms don't seem way too sudden.

*Jia-Long's sobs aren't as loud as most people. His crying,even as a child, was pretty subtle.

*When Jia-Long is upset, his verbal tick flies out of the window.

*When they were younger, Emil called Jia-Long 'Jia' for short.

*I'm not sure if Jia-Long's parental backstory was clear. I didn't want to dive into it too deeply, though, because it doesn't play too large a part. There was never really a threat of Jia moving away since his mother had made Yao his guardian.

*Both Lukas and Arthur can enter and exit a room without notice.

*Jia has always been hard to read, so no one really knew what was going on.

*This chapter explains why everyone else calls Jia-Long 'Leon'.

*Arthur uses random British slang when upset.

*The explanations of the past week may seem a little vague and/or rushed. I didn't want to write out the whole time Emil was dealing with his concussion, though.

*Arthur has his _moments_. he has a tenancy to talk about his friends to others. It has gotten him nowhere good in the past, so he only mentions them to family now.

Well. I'm pretty sure that's it, but as always, if you find something wrong or confusing, don't hesitate to ask! Sorry for the long wait.


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